1957-1986 :

THE LAKE AVENUE EXPANSION

WHACKY SHACK,
HAUNTED CASTLE

After a long run for the Ghost Ride, Edward Lange in the mid- to late-'60s upgraded the dark ride. The huge cement gorilla head constructed by Ralph Lopez Sr., was chiseled out and destroyed. In its place, Lopez created a facade with turrets and windows set at weird angles and called it the Whacky Shack, after the popular and haunting creations installed up and down the eastern seaboard by master designer Bill Tracey.

Construction of the facade and entryway of The Haunted Castle (mid-1980s). Photos courtesy of Ralph Lopez Jr.view larger image

By then, Lange's top assistant was his son George, and to animate the Whacky Shack, the younger Lange brought in Ralph Lopez Jr., who was following in his father's creative footsteps after virtually growing up in the Palace during the 1940s and '50s. When he arrived, Lopez discovered throughout the Palace a collection of strange sculptural heads; he animated and installed them in the Whacky Shack, including one which he hung upside down from an overhead track, so it floated in and out of sight through windows in the Whacky Shack facade. "I just loved it," Lopez said. "It was so weird."

During this, and a later Whacky Shack upgrade, Lopez Jr., turned the interior into a blackened horror where passengers rounded sharp bends to encounter terrifying faces and scenes: a green monster with three blood-stained teeth and bulging red eyes, a ghoulish swamp figure, giant spiders creeping along their webs, and a suspended three-eyed alien that seemed to fly directly at passengers. Frankenstein, with a big green face, blue eyes and sharp teeth, staggered around behind a tombstone.

Even the brave had their moments of doubt in the Whacky Shack, some with greater reason than others. "Inside the tunnel, there was a big elaborate sprinkler system, and when you spent as much time in there as I did, you can walk around in the dark and know where you're going," Lopez said. "So I'd stand behind a partition, put my hand on the sprinkler pipe and get it real cold and as the train would roll by I'd put my hand on the back of a passenger's neck. You think girls scream? You should hear the guys!"

The final dark ride upgrade, during the mid-1980s, saw the complete elimination of the Whacky Shack facade in favor of a spooky new look called The Haunted Castle. Again, it was George Lange calling in Ralph Lopez Jr., to crank up the frights.

On the outside, Lopez Jr., created an entryway with similarities to the gorilla head on Ghost Ride, but this time made of lumber, foam, foil and plaster. The Pretzel cars were repainted with gothic and creepy touches. Just inside the entry, passengers encountered Frankenstein, who seemed ready to crush the riders had the train not sped forward. From start to finish, it was what dark ride enthusiast and archivist Bret Malone called "a cherished ride" through double doors and hairpin turns and jaw dropping stunts.

Now an art teacher and animation collector, but then a kid, Peter Szikura loved the Haunted Castle stunts. "Darkness and mystery and things popping out at you and there were these papier marché heads on rolling carts that followed you as you went through. Some were behind tombstones. There was a man in a diving suit with an octopus around him, and a vulture up in a papier marché tree. Scary, and fun!"